Bucs Sign New Kicker

In 2020, he spent time with the Vikings and Jaguars, followed by the Jets and Browns in the 2021 season. There was more stability for McLaughlin in 2022 as he only played for the Colts and was their kicker for 14 games.

Overall, he has made 88 of 90 (97.8%) of his extra point attempts in his career and made 67 of 85 field goal attempts, which is good for 78.8%. Last season when McLaughlin got his biggest opportunity with one team, he was perfect on 21 extra points and 30 of 36 on field goals. Of the misses, they came from yards of 51, 39, 48, 50, 59 and 48, with the 59-yarder getting blocked.

Bucs Looking For A Kicker That Can Make It From Further Lengths

The big stat that everybody wants to know for McLaughlin is that he went 9 of 12 from kicks that were 50-yards and over. On his career is 17 of 21 from 50+ so he has good length from further out.

That’s the change the Bucs are looking for this season. Ryan Succop was released last week partially becasue he had a salary cap hit of $3.5 million, but also because he didn’t have the distance in his leg. Succop was very accurate from within 49 or more, but he struggled the longer that the kick was.

A lot of change is coming on offense this season with new offensive coordinator Dave Canales and a different quarterback, so points will be at a premium.

Bucs Have A Kicker Competition

McLaughlin won’t be handed the job when he comes into OTAs and training camp. The Bucs also have Jake Verity on the roster. He’s going into his third year after beginning his career as an undrafted free agent out of East Carolina, who signed with the Ravens and was on their practice squad. Verity was waived from Baltimore after tearing his ACL in December.

He also had a brief stints with the Colts in last year’s training camp and was claimed off of waivers Jaguars during training camp this season. Verity was put on injured reserve in late August and released a week later in September.

McLaughlin and Verity will each compete for the starting kicker job this summer. It’s also possible that Tampa Bay drafts a kicker late in a round this year to add into the mix for the role. There’ll be a new kicker for the Bucs this season they’re looking for one with plenty of range.